'Animals Are Best Left In The Wild': Madras HC Orders Injured Elephant 'Rivaldo' To Be Kept In The Wild, Monitors Recovery

The Madras High Court on Thursday opined that wild animals are best left in their natural habitat even if they suffer from physical deformities unless it involves a question of their survival. The Court was adjudicating upon a plea moved by S Muralidharan, founder-trustee of Indian Centre for Animal Rights and Education (INCARE) who had sought the Court's intervention to prevent the release of an elephant popularly known as 'Rivaldo' back into the wild. 

Rivaldo had been captured and treated by the Forest Department for over two months after he lost a part of his trunk in the wild.

A Bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice P.D. Audikesavalu on Thursday rejected the petitioner's contention to bring Rivaldo back into captivity and keep him in an elephant camp, maintained by the Forest Department.

"Laws of nature may be cruel, but it may still be beyond human intelligence. There is a rule of the survival of the fittest and, though endangered animals are sometimes taken into captivity to protect or feed them, animals are best left in the wild. For all we know, Rivaldo may be the first case in the country of an elephant kept in captivity for a long period of time for its treatment and released back into wild.", the Bench observed.

The Court decided to monitor his activities in the wild for two more months before taking a further decision on his wellbeing.

"There is no doubt that Rivaldo would face difficulties in the wild. But one cannot be sure that Rivaldo prefers captivity than being left open in the wild and he may yet make attempts to make forays into human settlements; but he should always be encouraged to go back to the wild unless it is a question of his survival.", the Bench further remarked.

On Thursday, a video was also shown to the Court by government counsel C. Harsha Raj wherein Rivaldo was seen to be doing very well in the forest subsequent to his release. Accordingly, the Bench observed in its order,

"In the video presented by the Forest Department, Rivaldo is seen drinking water, foraging, grazing and even attempting to extract salts from the earth. The obvious deficiency in his trunk comes out as Rivaldo is now given to using his right foot to help create balls out of bundles of grass and balance the same against his trunk to help him to lift the same to his mouth. Even while drinking water, a lot of it spills out, but, according to the forest officials, Rivaldo has not shown any inclination to return to human settlement and is moving in the elephant corridors that have been restored."

The petitioner apprised the Court that Rivaldo had lost a part of his trunk in 2010 and sustained injuries once again on the trunk during a confrontation with a wild tusker in 2013. Thus, Rivaldo had lost the ability to use his trunk to help him eat or drink, it was contended.

While appreciating the concern raised by him, the Court observed that expertise of forest officials must be taken into account in such matters.

"At the same time, the forest officials' expertise has also to be taken into account as they say that it is better for Rivaldo to acclimatise himself and ultimately learn to live with his deficiencies in the wild. The court has to yield to the greater expertise of the forest officials in such regard. At any rate, it does not appear that the forest officials have no concern for the animal, or are attempting to shirk responsibility, or the view taken is arbitrary", the Bench opined further.

Accordingly, the Court directed the forest officials to produce another video on December 9 to show how the elephant was doing in the wild. The video should focus on his ability to forage, graze and drink, and it will be best if the date or dates of the footage are apparent in the video itself, the Bench added.

Case title - Dr T. Murugavel v. The Principal Secretary to Government of Tamil Nadu and others

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